Intellectual property laws now impact on our daily lives in much more obvious ways than in the past and affect the way we access or engage with technology, medicine, nature, education and entertainment. This text uses broader social and economic contexts to locate the black letter law in theeveryday, making it an accessible introduction that will equip students with a foundation of legal knowledge for either entry level legal practice or to progress into more specialised postgraduate study of intellectual property law.In relation to the key areas - copyright, design, patent, trade mark, confidential information and deceptive and misleading conduct - the book covers:* a policy overview of the legal category, its history and emerging trends* an explanation of the structure of the legislation and associated rights* leading case extracts to elucidate key legal principles and tensions* discussion of the law in practice and the administration of the rights